Hawaiian Passion Fruit Chiffon Pie aka Lilikoi Chiffon Pie.
This is pie perfection as far as I am concerned. Light, flaky crust filled with an almost lighter than air tart passion fruit chiffon filling, and a sweet marshmallowy frosting and topped with fresh passion fruit seeds. If Hawaii was a pie, this would be it. (This is a long post, but there is important information in it for pie baking success).
I counted and this passion fruit chiffon pie is the 5th pie I have ever made. Besides testing the recipe of course. But 5th flavor of pie. I made an apple pie once before starting a blog, a boozy pumpkin pie, a persimmon pear pie, a coconut cream pie and now this one.
I have made a few galettes, or free form pies, but I don't count those since those are easier to make. For being someone who claims to not like pie, I am getting better at making them. And eating them.
This passion fruit chiffon pie isn't my original idea. It comes from Hamura Saimin in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii. A little hole in the wall mom and pop Hawaiian Saimin restaurant.
They are known for two things: Saimin and this pie. Hamura Saimin is a "No-frills, counter-serve space for saimin (a classic Hawaiian noodle soup) & lilikoi chiffon pie." I LOVE Hawaiian saimin. So you go for the saimin, stay for the pie.
At Hamura Saimin the menu is pretty simple, counter style community seating and everyone there is like family. And if you don't know who you are sitting next to by the end of the meal everyone is calling each other "cousin" or "cuz". Because that is the Aloha way. This is a must stop on our " Places to eat at on Kauai" list. Their saimin is amazing, the pie even more amazing. You caneven order a whole pie to go as well as ordering slices to eat while there.
I adore all things passion fruit. Their pie was so light and airy, that sweet-tart tang of the passion fruit and lightly sweetened creamy topping that resembles meringue. Some say Hamura Saimin uses cool-whip, but it didn't seem like cool-whip to me, I decided to go with a meringue topping instead for my version.
The Hamura Saimin lilikoi chiffon pie had the lightest, flakiest crust I had ever seen. I am not a pie crust expert but ever since making The Bravetart's pie crust for my coconut pie I have become a fan and I knew it would work perfectly for this pie.
Make your pie crust ahead of time and freeze it overnight or you can even save time by using a storebought pie. Since the filling is no-bake the longest part of making this pie is the chilling to set the filling.
How do you make passion fruit chiffon pie?
This pie has three components - pie crust, passion fruit filling, meringue topping. The majority of the pie making time is chilling the dough.
The pie filling requires, eggs, sugar, passion fruit juice and puree, gelatin, some lemon zest and optional passion fruit seeds.
Hamura Saimin's version does not have the passion fruit seeds in it, so they are completely optional. I like them so I add them into the filling as well as spooned over the top.
Just LOOK at how flaky that pie crust is? Stella's recipe is perfection and so easy to make. Even for a relative pie-crust newbie like myself. 
I love vintage Hawaiian cookbooks. I always try to find some on my vacations to the islands. When we went to Maui in 2015 we had the most amazing banana, mango, guava and passion fruit breads from road-side stands on the way to Hana, from the Maui swap meet and farmers markets.
I was on the hunt for those recipes to recreate at home. We went to the Talk Story bookstore in Hanapepe. The westernmost book store in the United States. I headed straight for the cookbooks.
I flipped through a few looking for the bread recipes, not even thinking about pie recipes. I bought a few that I found and packed them in my suitcase to bring home to add to my collection.
I spied the passion fruit chiffon pie recipes and knew I wanted to make it. Its just like Hamura's pie!
The recipe calls for passion fruit juice. The Hamura Saimin lilikoi pie is a pale buttery yellow and I had fresh purple passion fruits. ( Yellow are more common on the islands, I can only find purple here in Las Vegas). I also had passion fruit juice from Aunty Lilikoi that is more orange in color.
I decided to adapt the recipe a little and use both the pulp with seeds and the juice. Passion fruit puree can also be used. For the topping I made a 7 minute frosting that is super easy to make and is a marshmallow-like meringue frosting. It balances out the tart passionfruit chiffon so well.
I love the look of the passion fruit seeds in the pie and I also drizzled one passion fruit's worth of seeds and pulp over the top to give it more visual appeal. I love how this pie came out, both looks wise and taste. I might just become a pie master after all!!
A few notes about this Hawaiian Passion Fruit Chiffon Pie ( Lilikoi Chiffon Pie) recipe first:
- If this is your first time making pie make sure you have plenty of time to do so. Recipe prep, cook and additional times are always approximate since everyone cooks and bakes at a different pace.
- The pie crust can be made first then frozen. This is a no-bake pie so you want the crust fully baked ahead of making the rest of the pie
- If you use all fresh passion fruits, there is a neat trick to separate the seeds from the rest of the pulp and juice - add to a blender and whiz on low for just a few seconds. Then strain. This separates the juice way faster than by scraping with a spatula through a sieve.
- This pie has egg whites folded into the filling, but they are not baked. If you want to be on the safer side, use pasteurized eggs.
- I use a 7 minute meringue topping for the pie which the sweetness balances out the tartness of the filling. Want to save even more time? Use any whipped topping you like - whipped cream, frozen whipped topping, etc. Even ice cream would be good
- The pie is best served the day after it is made since it needs a minimum of 4 hours to chill. I make at night, chill overnight then enjoy the next day. Pie for breakfast anyone?
- This pie keeps really well in the freezer. Thaw in refrigerator before serving.
Hawaiian Passion Fruit Chiffon Pie (Lilikoi Chiffon Pie)
Ingredients
- 1 Pre-baked 9” round pie crust - I use this recipe from The Bravetart on Serious Eats
- You can use a store-bought pie crust or make your own recipe. Time to make this pie depends on if you use a pre-baked pie crust or make one the day of making the pie. The pie is best served the next day so chilling overnight will yield a longer prep time.
For the Filling:
- 4 eggs separated
- ½ cup fresh passionfruit pulp including seeds-optional
- ½ cup passion fruit juice/puree* either fresh or thawed from frozen
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup granulated sugar divided (200 g)
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated gelatin
- 4 tablespoon cold water
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest I used meyer lemon
For the meringue topping:
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make your pie crust if using the recipe I linked from Serious Eats or your own, or use a store bought crust. You can make the pie crust a day ahead of time and freeze it.
For the pie filling:
- Set a pan of water over medium high heat and bring to a steady simmer. Make sure the water level is low enough that a bowl set on top wont touch it. Lower the heat slightly and keep simmering.
- In a small bowl add the 4 tablespoons of cold water and sprinkle the gelatin over to soften.
- In a bowl that will fit over the pan of simmering water, whisk the egg yolks until thickened and lighter in color, add in passion fruit pulp and juice ( or puree), zest, ½ cup of sugar and salt. Set over the pan of simmering water and whisk until thickened. About 8-10 minutes. Make sure to stir constantly so the egg doesn’t scramble. Add in the softened gelatin and stir until melted. Remove from heat and cool until thickened and slightly congealed on top.
- Whip the egg whites until foamy, slowly add in the remaining sugar and then whip until stiff peaks are formed and the meringue is glossy. Fold into the passion fruit mixture and stir until fully combined. Fill the pie crust with the mixture and chill at least 4 hours up to overnight.
To make the frosting:
- Using the same double boiler method as the pie filling, set a pan of simmering water over the stove. In a bowl that fits the pan but won't be touching the water, whisk the frosting ingredients except for the vanilla for one minute using a hand mixer. Set the bowl over the simmering water and continue to mix on high for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla extract. Let cool slightly then spread on the top of the chilled pie. Garnish with passion fruit pulp over the top and serve.
Notes
Aloha and happy PI day!! Hope you try my version of the recipe for Hamura Saimin's passion fruit chiffon pie. If you do let me know! I always love hearing when readers make my recipes.
Leandra Velasco says
What a great recipe find! Thank you for sharing. Have you tried using the yellow lillikoi fruit instead? If so, did you find it to produce a different flavor? Or is the purple lilikoi fruit most recommended to use for this recipe?
Shanna says
Both would work just fine
Chrissy says
There aren’t purple lilikoi in Kauai and Hamuras does not include the seeds, either in the pie nor as a garnish. Definitely not the recipe I was looking for.
Shanna says
There are purple lilikoi in Vegas where I live. So I used what was available to me. You can use any lilikoi you want. You can even just use the juice from a bottle. Like many do. I also garnished with the seeds because that is what I like. You can always make it the way you like. Or not.
Susie Ning says
I don't have access to fresh lilikoi fruit, just the puree. Can I just use the recipe with out it? Or should I use a substitute.
Shanna says
Puree is perfectly fine!!
J says
Should list the sugar in the frosting as confectioner's or powdered, if that is what it is supposed to be. You list granulated in the filling, but just say "sugar" in the frosting. There are many kinds of sugar, so narrowing it down would help for people like me who have never made it before.
Shanna says
Granulated. Sorry about that! Thanks for catching it, I have updated the recipe. Hope you enjoy the pie!
Celeste says
I loved Hamuras lilikoi pie when I visited Kauai, and I can't wait to try this recipe! I'm planning on using a store-bought crust, would deep dish or regular be better, or maybe it doesn't matter? Thanks!
Shanna says
Deep dish! Hope you like it!
Melissa says
Hi! The meringue in the filling (4egg whites) should be safe to be eaten? It's not cooked or exposed in any heat like the topping and it just gets folded with the rest of the filling so I was wondering. Please advise. Thank you!
Shanna says
They are and to be on the extra safe side you can use pasteurized eggs if you want
Wendy says
Hi! Where does the lemon zest go? I’m assuming in the filling.
Shanna says
Yes it does. Not sure why I left that part out of the instructions. Thanks for catching it!
Kananipauole says
Thank you for this recipe. I have a huge lilikoi vine on my roof and today I harvested about 15 beautiful purple ones from seeds my husband bought in Australia. The difference we noticed with the yellow lilikoi and the purple one is that the yellow is much more tart.
I made the pie with a Graham cracker crust...broke da mouth! I am so happy with the result. My husband who is so picky when it comes to desserts loved it. Between each bite, he had positive things to say. Big Mahalo for sharing this recipe. By the way I am from Kailua, O'ahu, but I now live in Manila. So your recipe traveled very far.
Shanna says
This makes my day and year! Thank you so much. I am so thrilled to year you love my recipe. I need to try it with a graham cracker crust - those are so good and easier than traditional pie crusts. We only get purple lilikoi here in Vegas, I have to sneak over yellow from Hawaii when we visit ha ha! Thank you again so much for your comment!
Freda says
Goya makes passion fruit pulp found in freezer section at our WalMart (Colorado). Have been going to Hamuras for over 20 years, they do not use the seeds. I was told CoolWhip was the topping. I use whipped cream. A tip I was given many years ago was to add the pulp after you have thickened the eggs/Gelatin mixture. It keeps the flavor better.
Shanna says
They don't use the seeds. I did. That is why I said mine was inspired/adapted. This is my version. I too have been to Hamuras many many times. I did mention using the seeds was optional as well. Feel free to make the pie as you see fit. I also use goya passion fruit pulp in recipes as well as using fresh. I am not a fan of cool whip so I made meringue. Feel free to use whatever topping you want. A friend told me they make a meringue topping maybe they switched to cool whip.
queendom57 says
I live on Kaua'i and grew up eating Hamura's! Can't wait to try your rendition on their famous pie! Mahalo!
Shanna says
I hope you like it. I know its not 100% exactly like their pie but its a nice substitute for when someone like me can't make it to Kauai!